The Patient Is Improving but Still Sickly

While a doctor will ask how you feel, friends and relatives usually pose a more pertinent question: "Are you feeling better?"

Consumer-sentiment surveys are like clinical reports crying out for common-sense context. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expect the final reading for June of the Thomson-Reuters/University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index, due Friday, to improve to 81.9 from a preliminary 81.2. That wouldn't be anything to write home about, according to Advisor Perspectives. The...